Funding deal reached for Rwandan highway

The next stage of the trans-national Bujumbura-Rusizi-Karongi-Rubavu highway looks set to go ahead after funding for the project was agreed between the Rwandan government and the OPEC Fund for International Development, the New Times has reported.

Under the terms of the agreement - which still requires the approval of parliament - as much as $11 million is to be made available to complete the next stage of the ambitious infrastructure project.

If the project is given the go-ahead, it should help to drive economic expansion in the area and ease the strain of other roads in the local area.

The agreement was struck in Vienna, the capital of Austria, by Ronald Nkusi, the director of the external finance unit in the ministry of finance.

Construction on the project started in 2010 and was financed by the African Development Bank, which recognised the potential economic benefits of the project.